Collins Park Garage in Miami Beach, USA by Zaha Hadid Architects

Miami Beach suffers from a lack of parking in areas that receive high volumes of visitors. It is a real obstacle for its residents at peak times. The city commissioned several studies for how to improve infrastructure and resident mobility. One of the conclusions was to provide additional parking both strategically and creatively.

The parking structure is often seen simply as a practical requirement within an urban setting. Through considered design, the parking structure can become an inviting feature, one that can even include other functions beyond simply parking. Part of the challenge is to question the full potential of such a structure to deliver more than just a single purpose or immediate function. The Collins Park Garage is a public parking garage and ground floor retail building within the Collins Park Area. A number of cultural buildings are located in area and we aim to develop a parking structure that participates in and enhances the surrounding context by studying ways to link the area together to provide a unifying vision.

Image Courtesy Zaha Hadid Architects

Zaha Hadid Architects has researched methods and concepts that bring the street-scape into a building; making its interior a civic, urban space. Preliminary sketches for the Collins Park Parking Garage explored what a parking garage can become by simply manipulating the building components inherent to the building type. These sketches progressed naturally into an expressed, continuous vehicular circulation path which suits its purpose, yet provides a unique experience and even a degree of fun for the user; a reflection of the city’s aspirations to create an environment that looks beyond established utilitarian conventions.